The nighttime forest hum of crickets and frogs, sometimes punctuated by a distant wolf howl, fills the wood-paneled cabin room. Lined with locked boxes, tables with drawers, a pot-bellied stove, a bed, and frontiersman accoutrements, the only modern feature to the room is a keypad-locked door. This isn’t the California wilderness of the late 1800s, […]
Clued in: The escape room craze finds a home on the Central Coast
Posted inNews
Political Watch 10/25/18
• After the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of Russian national Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova for interfering in the 2018 midterm elections, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) released a statement, saying it was “yet another example of ongoing Russian efforts to interfere in our electoral process.” “Russia continues to use social media platforms like Facebook […]
Posted inNews
Hobnobbing with Helen: A socially satisfying October
It was impossible not to have a good time at the Boys & Girls Clubs’ annual Celebrity Waiter’s Night on Oct. 18 at the Santa Maria Country Club. This was a high-octane event, positively oozing with energy and excitement. The fundraiser attracted 225 enthusiastic friends and supporters and included some in costume. You had to […]
Posted inOpinion
Scary thoughts
I‘ve said before that the truth hurts, but sometimes it’s downright chilling. Take the report released by the Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) about the county’s response to the Thomas Fire and Montecito mudslides (see page 7). The county’s own report recommended improved evacuation plans, more public outreach via social media and […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Viet Kitchen brings traditional Vietnamese food to Santa Maria
Santa Maria just got something it really needs–a new Vietnamese restaurant. The recently opened Viet Kitchen on Skyway Drive is just what Santa Marians on the south side of town need, and from what I can tell, really want. Vietnamese cuisine is some of the world’s best comfort food, and the restaurant is off to […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Allan Hancock College singers reunite with San Luis Chamber Orchestra for Beethoven’s Mass in C
In the second half of the Gloria movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Mass in C Major,” there’s a massive build and rising unison sung among the choir on the words, “quoniam tu solus sanctus,” or, “for thou alone are holy.” As soon as the cadence comes to a rest, the bass players fly out of […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Lompoc Civic Theatre tackles mortality and love in On Golden Pond
From the moment you set foot inside the Ellery Room at Lompoc’s Mission Club, it’s clear something is very special about this latest Lompoc Civic Theatre production. On Oct. 27 and Nov. 3, the theater group presents a dinner theater production of On Golden Pond, the classic 1979 play written by Ernest Thompson. The play […]
Posted inMusic, Arts & Culture
Nancy Jo Ward debuts solo show at Ann Foxworthy Gallery
On the day Nancy Jo Ward is interviewed by the Sun, she is busy experimenting with yet another technique in her digital art making. “It’s called a pastel ground,” she said. “It’s like a clear medium that has sand in it. I’m adding it to an aluminum print because I want to see what happens […]
Posted inNews
‘The Patch’ offers fall fun and education opportunities for local students
It was last school year in May when Hannah Limon first attended a work day devoted to developing Santa Maria’s first ever pumpkin patch. Limon, a student at Pioneer Valley High School, had heard a lot about the program from one of her agriculture teachers–about how participants would learn to grow and harvest pumpkins and […]
Posted inNews
Spotlight on: Treetop Yoga
For Nicole Lowe, owner and lead instructor at Santa Maria’s Treetop Yoga, a seventh year anniversary is an occasion to take in stride. The studio celebrated the milestone in mid October by hosting a series of free classes that include yoga sessions for all ages and skill levels. “It was neat to kind of have […]
Posted inNews
What went wrong: Santa Barbara County analyzes action during Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flow
For a brief stretch of time spanning December 2017 to January 2018, Santa Barbara County was synonymous with the word “disaster.” First, the Thomas Fire in December scorched hundreds of thousands of acres of federal, state, county, and private land, becoming one of the largest fires in California’s recorded history. Barely a month after the […]
Posted inNews
Lompoc to spend nearly a half million on riverbed cleanup
The Lompoc City Council approved a $400,000 contract on Oct. 16 with a company tasked with cleaning the Santa Ynez Riverbed, which is filled with several tons of trash left by recently removed homeless encampments. The city has been working with Qwikresponse, a Southern California-based company that specializes in hazardous and biohazardous materials removal, since […]
